One of the most widely used types of machines for the manufacture of glassware is the so-called I.S. machine, which machine comprises a plurality of identical sections arranged side by side, the sections operating continuously out of time with each other to produce glassware. The I.S. machine has developed over the last sixty years from the original machine of this type described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,911,119--Ingle.
While during this period of sixty years there have been many improvements in I.S. machines, e.g. increased number of sections, increased numbers of moulds in each section, electronic control mechanisms replacing mechanical controls, the basic mechanical structure of the I.S. machine has remained unaltered.
Among the features which are common to almost all existing I.S. machines are the following;
1. The various mechanisms of the machine are integrated into a machine frame, and access to repair such mechanism is difficult. PA1 2. The various mechanisms are generally pneumatically operated, and a complex array of piping is necessary to provide the required supplies of compressed air. This piping is very time consuming (and thus expensive) not only to assemble in manufacture but also to repair. PA1 3. If any substantial repair is necessary to a section, the whole I.S. machine (i.e. all the sections) has to be shut down while the repair is carried out. PA1 4. The various sections are mounted side by side in a machine frame, having upright frame members which support ancillary mechanisms, for example gob distributors. Air supplies to the various sections are provided from piping leading from these upright frame members. Consequently there is a risk of different pneumatic conditions obtaining in sections remote from the upright frame members and those close to them, a risk which increases with the number of sections in the machine which is now frequently 12 or more.
EP 184394 describes a fluid operated individual section glassware forming machine. The intention is that the machine should be capable of adaptation for either pneumatic or hydraulic operation, and to avoid the proliferation of pipes which would result, the machine is so constructed that fluid under pressure to operate the various mechanism of the machine is provided through passageways formed in the plates providing the framework of the section. While the possibility of utilizing these passages for pneumatic operation is mentioned, it is not described; the description is of use of the passageway for hydraulic fluid while conventional pipe work is used for pneumatic operation. Consequently no indication is given of elimination of pipe work for pneumatic operation between the conventional valve block, used in such pneumatic operation, and the passageways. Particular problems would seem likely to arise in this respect as the initial part of the passageways are in a base plate of the section.
Further EP 184394 envisages the use in the machine of conventional mechanisms, that is to say mechanisms which are integrated into the machine frame and which are therefore not easily accessible for repair or replacement.
It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a glassware forming machine comprising a pneumatically operated mechanism which is readily removed from a frame of the machine for replacement or repair.